So to pay me
out he sulked, and then devoted himself to Mercedes. Men are really
impossible people to deal with, aren't they, Mamma? So ridiculously vain
and unreasonable. I shall be glad to see Mr. Renour again; he was quite
different; respectful and yet devoted, not wanting to eat one up like
Gaston, and I am _sure_ incapable of treating me like Harry has. I
suppose by now they have got right up into Africa. I wonder if she is
going to shoot lions, too, or be a shikari or cook his food. I am sure
she would look hideous roughing it without her maid. Her hair has to be
crimped with tongs, and she has to have washes for her complexion, and
things. You know, Mamma, though I don't care a bit, the whole affair has
upset me so that the dear Senator noticed I was not quite myself after
the post came in, and asked me if there was anything else I wanted that
he could do for me. And when I told him only to teach me to be a brazen
heartless creature, as hard as nails, he held my hand like I held his,
and pressed it, and said we should soon be in the sunshine where the
winds did not blow.
"You are too broad gauge to want things like that," he said; "those
bitter thoughts are for the puny growths.
Pages:
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161